Beyond Ruin by Kit Rocha

Author:Kit Rocha [Rocha, Kit]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-942432-06-7
Publisher: NLA Digital LLC
Published: 2016-02-10T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fourteen

It felt strange to be back in Three.

Not bad, exactly, but different and familiar, all at once. In a way, it still felt like coming home for Scarlet—the blocked, often-shattered surfaces of the streets, the scent of the mud-and-grass mortar used for makeshift repairs to brick and stone, even the way people milled about without ever seeming to come out of cover.

People in Three had long, long memories.

And so did she. She'd gladly volunteered to be part of the labor force clearing some of the more structurally sound tunnels in the sector. It was something she could do, a way to be productive while nearly everyone else she knew was making big plans and even bigger decisions.

But being underground brought those goddamn memories screaming to the front of her mind. The fire, the chaos. Staring down into the gaping crater where the Greer Street facility had once stood, wondering where her father lay in all that filthy rubble.

The nightmares were the worst. For months, she'd woken, silent and panicked, unable to scream, from terrifying dreams of smoke and choking darkness. In sleep, she'd watched her hands turn bloody and raw from scrabbling at debris. From trying to dig herself out of her own grave.

It was hard to get enough air through the mask covering the lower part of her face. She straightened, tugged off her gloves, and yanked the stifling mask away from her mouth. "It's a pretty far cry from our last show, huh?"

Riff's habitually stern expression almost softened into a smile. "I don't know. Crowded, loud, sweaty…"

"This is arguably easier on the hands, though. For you, anyway." She arched an eyebrow at him. "Better watch those magic fingers while you're tossing this shit around. The ladies sure would miss 'em."

"On and off stage." He threw aside a chunk of concrete. "You're pretty damn chipper. Got some ladies waiting back at home for your magic fingers?"

He didn't know. The realization shouldn't have startled her, because of course he didn't know. And yet she felt so different, as if she'd changed on some inextricable, fundamental level. Couldn't everyone tell?

Sure, they could. He'd asked, hadn't he? He just didn't know why. "Jade's waiting. And maybe—" She bit her lip. Another thing that shouldn't have startled her—how impossible it would be to explain Mad and Dylan.

Riff raised an eyebrow. "And maybe…?" he prompted. "What, have you gone full-on O'Kane on me, Scarlet?"

"Depends, I guess, on what you mean by that."

"You know." He shrugged and reached for a bottle of water. "You and I have always fucked who we want, how we want, and not given a shit what the world thinks. But the O'Kanes don't just fuck that way. They love that way, the crazy motherfuckers."

His words were circumspect, careful even in their bluntness. "Is this your delicate way of asking if I've fallen in love?"

"Well, we're underground and you're still glowing, so…" He offered her the water. "C'mon, Scarlet. It's me."

It was Riff, her friend and bandmate. They'd shared everything, from meals to money, sleeping space to lovers.

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